Creatifik attended the IBioIC’s (The Industrial Biotechnology Centre) first annual conference at INOVO House in Glasgow on 22nd January. Due to the high demand for tickets we got in touch with organiser after the event was initially sold out, but were able to get in when a new round of tickets were issued.

We were glad we attended as the event and the people, was notably focused on industrial biotechnology as a subject and as part of the Scottish / UK economy. This was evident from the presentations given, as the list of speakers were:

Rodger Kilburn the CEO of IBioIC
Dr Jim Philp Science and Technology Policy Analyist for OECD
Joanna Dupont-Inglis Director for Industrial Biotechnology for EuropaBio
Ian Shott Managing Partner for Shott Trinova and Chairman of IBioIC
Ian Fotheringham MD of Ingenza (Pictured)
Ted Chapman Biotechnology & Environmental Shared Service Director for GSK
Charlie Bavington MD of GlycoMar
Judith Huggan is the Skills Programme Manager of IBioIC
Professor Nigel Titchener-Hooker Head of Department at University College London
Dave Tudor VP Primary Supply Chain for GSK
Louise McGregor Head of Circular Economy at Zero Waste Scotland
Dr Nik Willoughby Associate Professor in Bioprocessing and Head of Cellular Bioprocessing Group at Heriot Watt University
Andy Leitch Timber Development Policy Advisor for the Forestry Commission
David Mackie Director of Biopolymers Ltd
Andrew Collis Synthetic Biochemistry Lead at GSK
Dr Fanny Tran Research Fellow at University of St Andrews
Professor Susan Rosser Synthetic Biology at University of Edinburgh
Mathew White Head of Innovation at AB Sugar
Michael Roberts Founder of Synpromics
Professor Martin Tangney Founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer at Celtic Renewables
PhD Students: Annabel Serpico, Daniel Miles-Barrett and Ellis Robb
With closing remarks by Professor Sir Jim McDonald Principal of the University of Strathclyde

There was much attention given to the efforts of the related organisations with regards to the commercial goals of the industry, as expected. But there was also a healthy focus on education for the future of the industry. A MSc course has been developed with HND level courses planned so as to train staff for growing and future companies. This was a great sign of the future thinking by the industry. As were the three PhD presentations which showed a lot of promise for the sector – especially a project that focused on liberating the components of lignin to supply aromatic molecules. As industrial biotechnology manufacture was related to not only creating new entities but also providing a supply of chemicals for classic industrial sectors.

Overall the event was supremely pleasant and informative with a range of interesting exhibitors. And the need for specialist biotech development and manufacturing is off and running in Scotland.

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20 Billion more quid is a big ask for an even larger version of the same thing. We were told the speeds of the LHC were already near the speed of light. Citing the world wide web and "bosonics" doesn't cut it.